Three Egyptian workers die while cleaning Mafraq well

AMMAN — Three Egyptian workers reportedly suffocated to death on Thursday while cleaning a water well in Mafraq, 80km northeast of the capital, official sources said.

The three victims descended into the 5m deep drinking water well in Mafraq to clean it using a diesel water pump, a senior Civil Defence Department (CDD) official said.

“The workers suffocated from the gases emitted from the pump,” the CDD official told The Jordan Times.

CDD rescue teams were called in by the owner of the water well, who noticed that the three workers disappeared, the CDD official explained.

“When he peered into the well, he saw the three men unconscious and called us,” the CDD official added.

A CDD rescue unit rushed to the area and “emergency personnel wore special masks and went down the well to try to rescue the men, but found them dead”, according to the CDD official.

The victims were taken to Mafraq Public Hospital for an autopsy, according to a statement by the CDD.

An autopsy is expected to be performed at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Mafraq on Friday, a second source said.

Police said they are investigating the incident, the second source added.